The Pathogenic Anaerobic Bacteria

the Amterican Journal of Surgery (102, 354:1961). To my mind, the Mayo Clinic experience with 1,181 cases, with the competent observers serving as authors, has done no less than provide a very workable and practical guide to cancer types and to the methods of treatment for the various types (by histological classification as well as clinical staging). It is fortunate that this paper follows a presentation by George Crile, the Peck's bad boy in principles of cancer therapy from the Midwest. Although Woolner does not discuss the Crile presentation (and neither does Crile discuss the Woolner classic), it is very apparent to me that Crile really gets "shot down." One almost reads between the defensive lines of Crile's paper (knowing Woolner is going to follow) and he seems rather "up tight" over what Woolner will be saying. (I'm sure he knows how well thought out the Mayo presentation will be.) The general organization of the book is excellent, with division into four parts: Clinical and Pathological Assessment of Thyroid Carcinoma; Factors Influencing Malignancy; Carcinogenesis and Radiobiology; and Cytological, Chemical and Immunological Aspects of Thyroid Neoplasia. The first section contains, as would be expected, the greatest amount of honest controversial disagreement; it is here the clinician will find the greatest challenge to making his own evaluation of classification and methods of treatment, garnered from the experiences of others like Hazard, Crile, Woolner, McClintock, Piercy, Williams, Russell, and Cassano. Type variations within a single tumor and the subsequent effect on prognosis is thoroughly studied in whole organ sections by Williams. The challenging question in this problem is: "Are there really three single cell types ?" One gathers that the essayist feels the answer, in most instances, should be "no"; for this reason, he questions therapy based on cell type-a question that has no real answer if one reverts to a consideration of Woolner's paper. The weakest presentation in the clinical series is by Cassano, et al., and I believe it could well have been omitted and made the total book stronger; it adds nothing to information since it says what everyone agrees is probably true, but confuses the issue by submitting a poorly controlled combination of surgical and radiotherapeutic (isotope) treatment. I found the two investigative sections very interesting and recommend them to anyone active in the fields mentioned, but I do not know enough basic biology to feel competent to comment critically. In summary, if one is interested in a disease of low epidemiological significance but of great importance to the individual patient with thyroid cancer, this book is well worth time for study. I rate it of extraordinary value for the clinician who sees patients with this disease.